Attached
by ShatteredColors
Summary: Mako doesn't want to be hurt, so he never lets anyone in. But he has a bit of trouble not becoming fond of Korra. And what happens when Korra has to leave the city? Will she go, or is there someone she can't leave behind? Makorra. Now a small ficlet.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This was previously a oneshot that I decided to make a small three part story, so if you've already read this first part, please continue on to Chapter 2. Thank you all. :)**

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People always leave. It's a fact we all ignore until it happens to us. But over the course of my life, I've had it happen too many times to ignore it any longer. It's because of this... this _change_ that I've learned to not trust people, to not get attached, _because once you get attached, it's all over._ One day that person will leave, be it willingly or not, and your heart will take damage. With each person you care about that leaves your life, they break off a piece of your heart, and if the damage is bad enough, you won't ever be able to put the piece back in place. No matter how badly you want to; how _badly _you just want to forget and move on, you will always feel an empty space deep inside you that can never be filled again.

I speak from experience. When I was eight, two of the most important people in my life left me forever. On what seemed like an ordinary day, my parents were murdered right in front of my own eyes. My younger brother didn't see. Perhaps it's why he's able to still trust people; to still make friends... But I can never forget the emptiness and sorrow inside my heart as I lost them and the countless other people who had promised to always be there for us. They all left eventually, after they found what they were looking for, or got tired of the city, or passed away. It's all the same to me; they _left. _Gone. Never for me to see them again. I was tired of getting my heart broken, so I stopped trusting people and stopped getting attached.

So when my brother decides to befriend the new avatar, I go about business as usual. I mean, why should she be any different? She's still a human. She'll still leave eventually.

However, it gets harder and harder to tell myself this as the days go on and she still remains a fixture in my life. She takes my passiveness for rudeness, from what I understand, and I don't blame her. I tend to be rude when I'm feeling vulnerable in an attempt to drive people away; to prevent them from getting too close. She doesn't seem to take the hint, it seems. Everyday I come home from work at the power plant, and everyday she's sitting on my couch. The_ avatar_. On _my_ couch. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure she could hang around with just about anyone she wants to. But for some reason she stays with me and Bolin, two dirt poor, rookie probenders just trying to get by. It makes no sense, and in the back of my mind I wonder if she just likes to be with me. And Bolin—of course. It makes me like her more, knowing that she could be anywhere, doing anything, but she continues to stay here. It almost makes me feel important. However, I can't afford to think thoughts like these, so I don't let them linger for long, and instead pour myself into my probending.

The days and weeks begin to pass, and my resolve is slowly beginning to waver. I just don't understand. Why hasn't she _left yet? _It doesn't make any sense. I've been nothing but indifferent, and rather rude, to her, but still she stays. And worse yet, I've began to think about her... And not just the casual _"Hm... wonder what Korra's up to", _but really _think _about her. About the way she walks, the way she says my name, the way her hair gently cascades over her shoulders in waves when she lets it down at night.

Currently, I'm lost in similar thoughts as we all lounge on the sofa. Bolin is talking about something that went on earlier in the day, his voice rising and falling with great fervor as it always does when he gets into a story. What he's saying, honestly, I couldn't tell you. I've let my guard down carelessly, and my mind is being held captive by thoughts of the young woman sitting mere inches away. Then, without even knowing she's causing me immense inner turmoil, she runs her fingers through her hair and the scent of her instantly assaults my senses. Tossing her head back, she laughs at something my brother says, and the sudden movement causes the oversized shirt she wears to bed to raise slightly and uncover the skin of her upper thigh. The movement was subtle enough to be missed by most people, but not me. Though I almost wish it was. The shirt she wears is mine, taken out of my room one day without my permission, and _holy spirits, _that alone was almost enough to break me. Somehow, miraculously, I've managed to keep calm.

All of a sudden she's looking at me and talking; her lips forming sounds that I'm oblivious to. Oh, and her _lips. _Have I mentioned them yet?

Her lips touch together softly, and then open again, and lastly make an 'o' shape. I'm mesmerized by her as they continue to move in this same pattern. Then it dawns on me.

_Oh! 'Mako'. She's saying my name... That's lovely... Wait, what?_

I'm rudely startled out of my thoughts as I come back to reality and realize that I should probably say something back if I don't want her to think I've gone insane. _Though sometimes I think I have. _

I make the mistake of looking up at her while I'm still vulnerable. Her eyes soften, and I can tell that she knows I've let my walls down, even if only for a moment. And it's then, when I look into those blue eyes, swimming with life and exuberance, that I know I've lost. Because once you get attached, it's all over. And boy was I attached.

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**AN: Aggh. I know it's not great, but I needed to write some Makorra after the whole Asami thing. Don't even get me started on that.  
**

** Comment, please. Even if you hated it. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"—ferry's leaving at ten tomorrow morning."

My mind couldn't quite comprehend the information.

Korra. Leaving. Ferry. Tomorrow.

It was too much.

Bolin had brought me the news just moments ago. Tenzin was taking Korra out of the city so she could practice her bending free from distractions. She wasn't sure when, or if, she was coming back.

I knew this day would come eventually, but it still stung like hell to hear it. My heart wanted to shrivel up and die in a corner, if it wasn't doing that already. And if my heart wasn't torturing me enough, my mind swam of nothing but thoughts of this. Of _her. _

_This is what happens when you let yourself get attached. How could you even think _she _would be any different? You're a moron. A pathetic, love sick moron. _

_Wait... love? Is that what this is? No, it couldn't be. Fondness, friendship, affection; maybe. But love? No. No way I could've fallen in love without even realizing it. I'd have surely noticed something like that._

…_right?_

"Mako... MAKO! Are you even listening to me?"

I shook my head as if it would actually clear the thoughts from my mind, and tried to focus on Bolin.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening. I'm just... thinking, is all." I internally cringed when my voice came out weaker than it should have, and attempted to make up for it by making my face as expressionless as possible. I've had such an abundance of practice at hiding my feelings during the years of my life that it could almost be considered a hobby. A twisted, unfulfilling hobby... but still.

My brother looked at me skeptically, slightly narrowing his eyes and trying to see past my facade. "Is everything alright? You seem upset."

"I'm fine," I retorted, satisfied that I was able to control the emotion in my voice this time.

He didn't believe it for a second, though, and moved closer in order to cup a hand on my shoulder. Most of the skepticism was gone from his eyes, replaced instead with concern.

"Look," He began, and I braced myself for the sympathetic lecture that I was certain I was about to receive. "I know you and Korra don't exactly get along sometimes, Mako, but I know you don't hate her, no matter how much you try to convince me, or yourself, that you do. I know that I'm gonna miss her when she leaves, and it's okay for you to miss her, too, bro. You don't have to pretend you won't."

I didn't have an honest reply to that, and Bolin knows me too well for me to successfully mask my feelings around him. And even though he's my brother, I didn't feel comfortable being unguarded around him at the moment. I had the sudden urge to get away.

I brushed his hand off and made toward the stairs. I needed to be alone; I needed to think. Or try _not _to think, because if I thought about it, it would only make it worse. Dreading the inevitable wouldn't make it any easier on my heart.

"Mako," Bolin's voice came from behind me as I reached the first step. I paused, one foot on the stair and one hand on the railing, to look back at him.

"It's... It's gonna be alright, ya know..." He fumbled with his hands, seeming like he was having difficulty forming the right words. "...I know you're upset, and I am, too, but it'll get better, I promise. A-and if you need to talk, I'm... I'm here for you, bro."

A small smile found its way onto my face. "I know."

He seemed content with that answer, so I turned away from him and solemnly continued up to my room. The brief happiness I had felt faded with the smile.

I appreciated my brother's attempt at comfort, I really did, but I doubted that the hurt would go away as he promised it would. I'm not the type of person that moves on as well as Bolin does.

I pushed open the door to my room and felt my heart skip a beat. Because there, sitting on my bed with her head in her hands, was the reason for my distress. I inhaled sharply in surprise, and the noise caught her attention. She raised her head to look at me; the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

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**AN: AHHH! I'm going crazy. This show is taking over my life, I swear. And I couldn't stop wanting to write more to this... So I did. And sorry it's so short, but I figured that was a good place to stop. ;)  
**

**There will be one more part. It should be uploaded soon because I already have some of it written. **

**Please review! Any comments, suggestions, or concerns are very much welcome~  
**


	3. Chapter 3

I pushed open the door to my room and felt my heart skip a beat. Because there, sitting on my bed with her head in her hands, was the reason for my distress. I inhaled sharply in surprise, and the noise caught her attention. She raised her head to look at me; the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

"Mako," She breathed my name, and the sound of her voice was so low that I almost missed the severe desire that hung off the word.

Almost.

Hearing the longing laced into her voice didn't help my bewilderment. I was already confused as to why she sat in my room in the first place, and now she _desires something? _What could she possibly want so badly?

... _**me?**_

The thought was almost too bizarre to even exist in my mind. Not that I didn't want her to want me, I just thought she never would. But here she was, sitting on _my _bed, saying _my _name with such emotion, and I was completely dumbfounded.

As my mind reeled, I stood pointlessly in the doorway with my brow furrowed and my hands hanging limply at my sides, utterly speechless.

I was suddenly aware of her eyes on me, and let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding in.

"...Mako?" She spoke my name again, but this time with worry, and I hoped she didn't think I was upset at her unexpected appearance.

"Korra..." I answered hesitantly, not sure of what to say, and not trusting my voice to remain steady while I said it, "How did you... get in my room?"

"The window." She said, like it was the most casual thing in the world to enter a person's house that way, "Bolin doesn't know I'm here."

So not only was she in my room, but she had _sneaked _into my room? I felt the need to pinch myself to confirm that this wasn't some crazy dream—not that I even _had_ dreams like that about her_..._ of course.

The look on my face probably told her how confused I was, because she continued to explain herself.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, as I'm sure Bolin told you." She spoke softly, and then looked at me as if she expected me to say something. When I didn't, she continued. "And I wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye." I responded quite blatantly, the word somehow slipping out automatically of its own accord.

She flinched; her face briefly showing pain at my rude response.

I mentally slapped myself. I didn't intend to be so cheeky, but I guess it came naturally after all these years.

"If you don't want me here, I can go." Korra recoiled harshly, in a tone that I completely deserved. She glared at me in that way only she could, and the moonlight from the window reflected off of her skin, putting half of her face into shadow. It was eerie and somehow incredibly beautiful at the same time. I couldn't look away.

My eyes never left her. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

...I _stuttered. _I don't _stutter. _I've never stuttered before in my whole damn life! But now, being in my room with Korra on my bed had apparently made me nervous enough to do so.

_What in the **world **was this girl doing to me?_

While I was caught up in wondering how this one girl could possibly cause me to impair my speech, Korra's eyes searched my face, and apparently accepted the emotion she found there, because her features softened.

Her expression quickly became one of sadness, and she proceeded to put her face back into her hands in a distressed-like manner, which only served to confuse me even further. I've never seen Korra act this way; she was one of strongest people I knew. Whatever was bothering her had to be something pretty awful for it to make someone like her upset.

The thought of something making her sad like this made my blood boil, which caused even my own emotions to begin to baffle me. Why should something that had hurt Korra make me so bitter? I've only ever felt like that for one other person in my life. Bolin. But Bolin was my brother; I loved him. Love made you feel that way for people. But this was Korra, not Bolin, and the only way that made sense would be if I was in— No. I refused to think about _that_ explanation. There had to be another.

Seeing as I couldn't punish whatever it was that was hurting her, at least at the moment, I settled for comforting her instead.

There was just one problem. I've only ever comforted my brother before, and that was when we were kids. Years ago. I wasn't quite confident that I knew _how. _

Furrowing my brow in both confusion and concentration, I shut the door behind me in case Bolin decided to show up, and sat down on the bed next to her. Slowly and hesitantly, I moved to put my hand onto her back in what I hoped what a soothing gesture.

I wasn't sure that Korra even wanted to be comforted. She's always been so independent and has never wanted to except anyone's help, that I was afraid she'd be angry with me for thinking her weak enough to need my consoling. But she wasn't. Quite the contrary, actually. She somehow quickly maneuvered herself from sitting beside me, to practically in my lap before I even had the chance to understand what was going on. She had buried her face into shirt, one arm slung around my neck and the other held clutched to her chest.

My mouth opened and closed multiple times while I attempted to get some sort of intellectual sentence to form, but no such luck. What the hell was it about her that turned me into a pile of mush?

So instead I replaced my arm on her back.

I couldn't help but look down at her in my lap, and noticed once more how the moonlight shone off of her face. If I didn't know any better, I'd say those were tears that the light danced across. But I did know better. Because Korra didn't cry. Ever.

But upon looking more intently, I realized those _were _tears on her cheeks. I didn't understand; Korra never cried.

It was completely unexpected. But then again, so was everything else that had happened today.

I stared at her in perplexity for a while before my mind started to put two and two together.

_Look at that, I'm not all mush after all. _

"Korra," I started quietly, "Are you sad to be leaving? Is that what you're so upset about?" She sniffled into my shirt before answering, her voice stuffy from crying.

"Not exactly...It'll be kinda nice to just focus on becoming a better avatar. I've been wanting to do it for a while, now. The benders need me." She sniffled again.

And here I thought I had it all figured out. No, of course not. Silly me, this is _Korra _we're talking about; and she's as far from simple as one person can get.

"What is it then?" I asked, honestly wondering what could possibly be making her like this.

She briskly burrowed back into my chest, hiding her face from view while she spoke. "You."

_What._

"...Me?"

"You."

"...What about me?" She looked up at me then, eyes filled to the brim with tears just threatening to spill over like the others that had already flowed down her cheeks.

"You really don't know?"

I was officially more confused than I've ever been in my life.

"Umm... No? Should I?"

She laughed grimly, a forlorn look upon her face, and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

"I just thought you did." Her voice cracked when she spoke and I felt my heart lurch.

"Would you care to inform me as to what it is that you thought I knew? Because honestly, Korra, I'm really confused right now." She looked me square in the eye, then, and took a deep, steady breath as if to brace herself for something.

Nothing I had ever been through could have prepared me for what came out of her mouth after that.

"Mako, I..." She hesitated, then took another breath. As she exhaled she spoke very quickly, like she wanted to get it over with: "I'll miss you. Like crazy. Even though you drive me absolutely insane most of the time. And I've never felt the way I do when I'm with you before. I'll miss that, too. And I can't even imagine life without being part of the Fire Ferrets, without Bolin, without _you."_ She spoke the last word so softly that if I wasn't listening as intently as I had been, I might have missed it.

_Wait, she's going to miss **me? **Out of all the people she could possible miss, it's **me? **_

I was rendered completely speechless. Her logic made no sense at all to me, but I'm not sure I cared. The only thing I could even think about was that she actually cared about me. And she cared to such an extent that it made her cry. _The thought of being without me had made her cry. _

My eyes stung, my heart ached, and the only thing I wanted in that moment was to tell her how much that meant to me. Because no one had ever said they'd miss me before. When people left, they didn't think of me; didn't care that they were leaving me behind. But she did. I might doubt it later, but right then, I couldn't deny that I felt such love for her that it almost made my heart burst.

My silence must have made her assume something completely different, because her face flushed a lovely red color, and she got up from her place on my bed and headed toward the door.

"I'm so sorry," She said hurriedly as she grabbed the doorknob, "I never should have—I'll just—"

I didn't let her finish. I'm not entirely certain what gave me the nerve to do it, but I grabbed her arm and tugged, turning her around, and pushing her back up roughly against door as I kissed her.

She gasped in surprise into my mouth. I didn't blame her; I surprised _myself _with that that one.

But to my relief, she recovered quickly and kissed me back, wrapping her arms securely around my neck and pulling me closer.

The world could have ended right then for all I cared. I don't think I even would have noticed. I didn't think about her leaving, or myself hurting, or the championship, or Bolin, or anything else but her. Because all that mattered to me was that the one and only person I had actually fallen for had fell for me too.

And so maybe getting attached wasn't that bad after all.

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**AN: Yaaaah, I don't like this last one too much. Something about it just seems off to me. But I was tired of messing with it, so here ya go. **

**.**

**Oh,and this: **

**'_I felt the need to pinch myself to confirm that this wasn't some crazy dream—not that I even had dreams like that about her... of course.'_**

**Made me chuckle hysterically while writing it.  
**

** Why yes, I do enjoy torturing Mako a lot more than I should. **

**.**

**And lord help me, I would have loved to write a sort of not-so-graphic lemon for this. But I think I'm physically incapable of doing so. -_-  
**

**Anyways, this is the last part, so I hope you enjoyed it. Or at least gave it a try.  
**

**Any feedback is very much welcome~  
**


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